Asia Cup Final 2022: SL vs PAK- Pakistan Playing 11 vs Sri Lanka (Predicted)

Asia Cup Final 2022: SL vs PAK- Pakistan Playing 11 vs Sri Lanka (Predicted). Pakistan and Sri Lanka will meet in Asia Cup 2022 final on Sunday, 11th September in Dubai. In a dress rehearsal of the Asia Cup 2022 final, Pakistan and Sri Lanka faced each other in Dubai on Friday 9th September.

Pakistan was fresh off a thrilling win against Afghanistan in Sharjah, while Sri Lanka was riding the crest of a confidence wave after beating defending champions India in its last game.

Wanindu Hasaranga led the bowling effort with a three-wicket haul before Pathum Nissanka notched up an unbeaten fifty as Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 5 wickets in the final Super 4 contest of the Asia Cup 2022 in Dubai.

Pakistan did what they are best at with their unpredictability and won their last 2 thrillers against India (5 wickets) and Afghanistan (1 wicket) in the last over. Against Afghanistan, Iftikhar Ahmed (30 runs) and Shadab Khan (36 runs) shared a vital partnership in the middle after Mohammad Rizwan’s 26-ball 20-run stay early in the match. Asif Ali (14 runs) and Naseem Shah (12 runs) scored crucial 26 runs in their final moments to cross the line with one wicket remaining.

Their bowlers put on a combined show to restrict the opposition to 129/6 in the last game. Haris Rauf was the chief wicket taker with 4-0-26-2 in the match. Naseem Shah, Shadab Khan, and Mohammad Nawaz picked up a wicket each and gave runs at less than 6 RPO in the last Asia Cup 2022 game.

Four late wickets gave Afghanistan a chance, before Fazalhaq Farooqi’s full tosses went for sixes, and eliminated both Afghanistan and India. Pakistan won a seesawing, low-scoring thriller to beat Afghanistan by one wicket, thus booking their date with Sri Lanka in the final of the Asia Cup 2022.

The result not only brought down the curtain on Afghanistan’s campaign but also on defending champions India. Having restricted Afghanistan to 129 for 6 after winning the toss, Pakistan would have expected smooth sailing but Afghanistan’s bowlers kept a lid on the scoring rate.

Pakistan 131 for 9 (Shadab 36, Fareed 3-31, Farooqi 3-31) beat Afghanistan 129 for 6 (Ibrahim 35, Rauf 2-26, Naseem 1-19) by one wicket

Mohammad Nawaz stunned India with the bat after helping restrict them with the ball after a rampant start to give Pakistan a thrilling win in their Super 4 Asia Cup 2022 match against India. A week after India chased successfully in a thrilling group-stage finish, Pakistan returned the favour, asking India to bat and getting home with just one ball to spare.

Mohammad Rizwan anchored the chase with 71 off 51, but it was Mohammad Nawaz who provided the desperately needed impetus. Promoted to No. 4, he smashed 42 off 20 balls to put Pakistan back on track as India’s Virat Kohli’s 44 balls 60 went in vain.

Asia Cup 2022: Pakistan 182 for 5 (Rizwan 71, Nawaz 42) beat India 181 for 7 (Kohli 60, Rahul 28, Rohit 28, Shadab 2-31) by five wickets

In the inconsequential Super 4 match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Pakistan’s innings could never quite achieve lift-off, and when the middle overs came, spinner Wanindu Hasaranga put in his first big performance of the tournament, taking 3 for 21.

After his strikes, Pakistan’s horizons contracted substantially, despite the best efforts of Mohammad Nawaz, who seemed to be striking well in the 26 he made off 18 before he was run out. Eventually, Pakistan succumbed to 121.

Sri Lanka was rattled by Pakistan’s pace in the powerplay, slipping to 29 for 3 at one stage. But so modest was the target, they could afford to take it slow. Pathum Nissanka anchored the chase, hitting an unbeaten 55 off 48. Thanks to less substantial but more aggressive innings from Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Dasun Shanaka, Sri Lanka ambled home with 18 balls and five wickets to spare.

Asia Cup 2022: Sri Lanka 124 for 5 (Nissanka 55*, Rauf 2-19, Hasnain 2-21) beat Pakistan 121 (Babar 30, Hasaranga 3-21, Theekshana 2-21, Madushan 2-21) by five wickets

After weeks full of entertainment and excitement, Asia Cup 2022 has finally reached its conclusion.  All the teams gave their 100% but it was Pakistan and Sri Lanka who outshined the other four teams to claim the spot in the summit clash.

The final of the Asia Cup 2022 is slated to take place between Pakistan and Sri Lanka on Sunday (11th September) in Dubai. Both teams won their first two games in the Super 4 stage, which took them straight to the final.

But when both teams will clash on Sunday, it is expected that Pakistan will emerge victorious and claim its third title. The reason behind the Babar Azam-led side having a higher chance to win the tournament is that most of their batters and bowlers are in form.

Sri Lanka on the other hand is also in the red hot form but they comparatively have less experience than Pakistan. But if their players step up they can even beat a strong team like Pakistan as they proved in the dead Super 4 rubber where they beat Pakistan comfortably.

Asia Cup Final 2022: SL vs PAK- Pakistan Playing 11 vs Sri Lanka (Predicted)

Babar Azam

Babar Azam is the skipper of Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2022. He should be the opener for the team during the tournament. The right-handed batsman is one of the top-ranked batsmen in T20Is (ICC ranking) but is yet to fire in Asia Cup 2022.

He scored only 10 off 9 balls against India in Asia Cup 2022. He failed yet again against easier opponents in Hong Kong (9 off 8) when the other Pakistan batters were making merry. He failed to score much again in the Super 4 match against India scoring only 14 off 10.

He was dismissed without scoring again against Afghanistan as he was dismissed leg before wicket off Fazalhaq Farooqi in the 2nd ball of Pakistan’s innings. He scored 30 off 29 balls before being bowled by Wanindu Hasaranga in the inconsequential Super 4 game against Sri Lanka. He has scored only 63 runs in 5 T20Is in Asia Cup 2022 at a pathetic average of only 12.6. He would like to amend his stats in the Asia Cup 2022 final against the same opponents- Sri Lanka.

Mohammad Rizwan

Mohammad Rizwan should be the wicketkeeper and the other opener for Pakistan in Asia Cup 2022. He top-scored with 43 off 42 balls in the defeat against India in Asia Cup 2022. He again top-scored with an unbeaten 78 off 57 balls against Hong Kong and was named MOM.

He top-scored again against India in a Super 4 match scoring 71 off 51 balls. He scored 20 off 26 balls against Afghanistan in the next super-4 match. He scored 14 off as many balls in the inconsequential Super 4 match against Sri Lanka. He is the second highest run-getter in Asia Cup 2022 with 226 runs averaging 56.5 in 5 T20Is.

Fakhar Zaman

Fakhar Zaman should be the one-down batsman for Pakistan in Asia Cup 2022. He scored his 8th fifty against Hong Kong.

Fakhar Zaman is an experienced batsman for Pakistan and will be a good choice at the no.3 batting spot. He scored 53 off 41 balls against Hong Kong before being dismissed by Ehsan Khan. He scored only 15 off 18 balls in the Super 4 match against India and 5 off 9 balls against Afghanistan. He scored 13 of 18 balls in the inconsequential Super 4 match against Sri Lanka.

Iftikhar Ahmed

Iftikhar Ahmed should be another middle-order batsman for Pakistan in the playing XI.  In Asia Cup 2022, he scored 28 off 22 balls before edging one to keeper Dinesh Karthik off Hardik Pandya against India in the opener.

He didn’t bat against Hong Kong and hit the winning runs against India in the Super 4 match. He scored 30 off 33 balls against Afghanistan in the next Super 4 match. He also scored 13 off 17 balls in the inconsequential Super 4 match against Sri Lanka.

Asif Ali

Asif Ali scored 9 off 7 balls against India in the Asia Cup 2022 opener. He didn’t bat against Hong Kong. In the Super 4 match against India, he scored a quick 16 off 8 balls before being lbw-ed by Arshdeep Singh in the last over.

The pace bowler had earlier dropped a regulation catch in the 18th over. But his missed catch cost India the Super 4 match. Asif Ali scored 16 off 8 balls in the next match against Afghanistan. He didn’t score in the inconsequential Super 4 match against Sri Lanka. He was bowled by MOM Wanindu Hasaranga in the very first ball he faced.

Khushdil Shah

Khusdil Shah will be a member of the Pakistan side in the Asia Cup 2022. He played against India in the Asia Cup 2022 opener but could manage only 2 off 7 balls before being Hardik Pandya’s victim.

He scored an unbeaten cameo – 35 runs off 15 balls including 5 sixes against Hong Kong. The last over bowled by Aizaz Khan saw him hit 4 sixes. He scored an unbeaten 14 off 11 against India in the Super 4 Asia Cup 2022 match but managed only 1 off 3 balls batting lower down the order against Afghanistan.

He scored only 4 off 8 balls before being dismissed by Dhananjaya de Silva in the inconsequential Super 4 match against Sri Lanka. He would want to amend his stats in the final as he has scored only 56 runs in 5 T20Is in Asia Cup 2022 averaging a below-par 18.67.

Shadab Khan

Shadab Khan should be an all-rounder for Pakistan in Asia Cup 2022. He scored 10 runs and conceded 19 runs in 4 overs against India in the Asia Cup 2022 group fixture. Against Hong Kong, he was the pick of the bowlers picking 4/8 in 2.4 overs which saw Hong Kong bundled out for 38.

He was the pick of the Pakistan bowlers against India in super 4 too, picking 2/31 in 4 overs which included scalps of KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant. He picked 1/27 against Afghanistan in Super 4 besides scoring vital 36 runs in 26 balls which saw him bag the MOM award. He was rested in the inconsequential Super 4 match against Sri Lanka. Pacers Usman Qadir (1/34 in 4 overs) and Hasan Ali (0/25 in 3 overs) played in the inconsequential Super 4 match against Sri Lanka.

Mohammad Nawaz

Mohammad Nawaz was the top wicket-taker in the Asia Cup 2022 match against India by picking 3/33 in 3.4 overs but couldn’t defend 6 runs in the last over.  He picked Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja’s scalps. In 2 overs, he picked 3 scalps conceding 5 runs against Hong Kong.

He was MOM against India in Super 4 again, picking Suryakumar Yadav’s scalp and conceding only 25 runs in 4 overs. But it was his career-best 42 off 20 balls being promoted higher up the order that resulted in Pakistan’s win.

He picked 1/23 against Afghanistan in Super 4 and scored only 4 runs. He was wicketless (0/21) in the inconsequential Super 4 match against Sri Lanka but scored 26 runs off 18 balls. He is the 2nd leading wicket-taker in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 for picking 8 scalps in 5 T20Is averaging 13.38.

Naseem Shah

For Pakistan, teenage pace sensation Naseem Shah made his T20I debut and impressed everyone with his speed and control. He finished with figures of 4-0-27-2 and accounted for the wickets of KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav.

However, towards the end of the innings, Naseem Shah looked like suffering from cramps. Despite that, he was brave enough to continue and left the field after the 18th over against India.

He played against Hong Kong and bowled 2 overs picking 2/7. He returned with figures of 1/45 in the Super 4 match against India. Against Afghanistan, he was economical returning with figures of 1/19 in 4 overs besides hitting 2 sixes and scoring 14 off 4 balls which saw Pakistan win in a tense last over.

He was rested in the inconsequential Super 4 match against Sri Lanka. Pacers Usman Qadir (1/34 in 4 overs) and Hasan Ali (0/25 in 3 overs) played in the inconsequential Super 4 match against Sri Lanka.

Haris Rauf

Haris Rauf should be one of the pacers for Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2022. In the absence of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf will be the most crucial pacer for Pakistan.  He was wicketless against India in Asia Cup 2022, returning with figures of 0/35 in 4 overs. His economy of 8.52 is on the higher side. He conceded 6 runs in a solitary wicketless over bowled against Hong Kong.

He returned with figures of 1/38 in 4 overs in a super 4 match against India. He was the pick of the bowlers against Afghanistan picking 2/26. Haris Rauf picked 2/19 against Sri Lanka in the inconsequential Super 4 match, dismissing Danushka Gunathilaka and Dhananjaya de Silva.

Mohammad Hasnain

Mohammad Hasnain picked the vital scalp of Hardik Pandya in the Super 4 match against India and conceded 38 runs in 4 overs. He also picked 1/34 against Afghanistan in the next Super 4 game. He picked 2/21 in the inconsequential Super 4 game against Sri Lanka.

The 22-year-old right-arm pacer Mohammad Hasnain was named as the replacement for the injured premier Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi for the Asia Cup 2022.

Mohammad Hasnain, who was recently banned for his illegal bowling action replaced Pakistan pacer Shahnawaz Dahani who was ruled out of the Asia Cup 2022 Super-4 game against arch-rivals India with a suspected side strain, which he picked during his side’s 155-run win over Hong Kong.